


Craigslist Missed Connections: an herb and his ex husband

by otonashiryouko



Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Parsley and Martin are gonna reconnect after their divorce, his takes place basically right after the game ends, i just wanted parsley to be gay and happy its what he deserves, its just gonna be fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-07 06:03:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20304661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otonashiryouko/pseuds/otonashiryouko
Summary: Just reading Martin's email filled Parsley with a mixture of panic and shame. And frankly a little bit of confusion. Martin was of course just being gracious and meeting with him because his original email (which he read underneath Martin’s reply) was barely more than a cry for help, riddled with drunken typos and even including the sign off “Love, Parsley”.





	Craigslist Missed Connections: an herb and his ex husband

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted Parsley to have a happy gay ending with Martin, but the idea that he's his ex husband is just too good. So this is gonna be both.

Despite the events of The Habitat that led him to a better understanding of his relationship with his father, Parsley couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed that his dad had to drive him home the night before the big event. He remembered getting slightly (read: way more) drunker than he had intended to. But hey, when your dad who you just started to reconnect with emotionally is the bartender, it’s hard not to take full advantage of that situation. Plus, he felt like he hadn’t actually relaxed like this in years.

So, when it came time for his dad to make the last call (which was really just telling Jerafina it was time to leave before “bedtime”), he couldn’t help being a bit disappointed. It was nice to just stay in the Lounge and sway slightly to the music. With the help of a few drinks he had mostly forgotten everything that had him worried before he came to The Habitat. Parsley had barely even noticed when Jimothan came out from behind the bar after wiping down the last of the glasses, and he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder reminding him it was time to leave. 

Damn. Parsley had almost forgotten about the “Big Event” that Habit kept talking about in the midst of Finally Enjoying himself. Not even his drunken, chill attitude could stop him from frowning a little. Martin would have called this his “relentless pessimistic outlook”, but it felt extremely unfair that right after he finally began having fun he had to leave. He had taken off time at work for this. Both jobs, in fact! Do you know how hard that is? “And now that I am fiiiiiiinalllyyyyyy relaxeddd, you want me to just… goooo?”

Oops. Somewhere along his train of thought he had accidentally begun speaking his complaints out loud to his dad.

Luckily, his dad was thinking a lot straighter  _ (haha)  _ at the moment, and offered him a ride home, which Parsley accepted after a long moment of deliberation. Maybe he wouldn’t have thought this a week ago, but after the florist’s kid had pointed out that his father was ready to lay off the Sports And Girls talk, he would actually prefer to be at home than find out what the doctor had planned.

However, when he woke up in his childhood bedroom with a splitting headache and the sound of his parents bickering loudly, he was less sure of his decision. Those two could be talking about the most mundane subject and their tone would still be anxiety inducing.

This was nothing new, though. Before he had left for The Habitat he had been living here in his parent’s house for about the past year. It was the unfortunate result of his breakup with Martin, his husband of over 4 years. While probably the least messy breakup Parsley had had in his life, it was absolutely the most painful, and no matter how hard he tried to convince himself to finally just forget about it, he definitely was not over him.

Right after it ended it was too miserable to be near the old apartment he had shared with Martin that even staying in the high stress environment of his family home was better. Of course, that didn’t last for too long, and the constant anxiety his parents and work gave him eventually drew him towards what had to be the most ridiculous solution. But hey, the website for The Habitat promised smiles, and he was in desperate need for those.

Now he was back, though, on slightly better terms with his father and, despite his hungover state, more relaxed and happier than he had gone into The Habitat feeling. Maybe that doctor was on to something after all.

He waited around sitting on his bed in his room for a while, sipping on a glass of water that tasted like it had been left beside his bed since before he had left. Once he no longer heard voices from the kitchen, he slunk in and grabbed what was left of that morning’s coffee.

“Ah, look who’s finally awake!” Startled, Parsley jumped and spun around, barely avoiding spilling lukewarm coffee on himself. There was his father, standing in the doorway. His dad’s tone of voice was more jovial than judgmental, but Parsley couldn’t help but grimace in preparation for a chiding. Not even a hardcore businessman like him, talented in all things board meeting and courtroom appropriate, was ready to deal with his dad’s scolding while hungover.

“Yep.” Parsley mumbled in response. He hoped his dad would pick up on his quiet tone of voice and match it.

Thankfully, Jimothan lowered his voice—slightly—and slid what appeared to be a plate of suspect smelling “eggs and toast” over the kitchen counter to him. “Y'know. I figured you might want some ‘eggs’ after that rough night you had. You never were one to drink much, son.”

“Rough?” Parsley took the “meal” from his father gratefully. He supposed he couldn’t remember much besides feeling slightly nauseous on the car ride home while his dad (somehow) held a conversation without bringing up girls OR sports.

“Well, I was a bit worried when you insisted on using the computer as soon as we got here. You can't hold your liquor like you old man can, but you managed it alright.”

Parsley instinctively bristled at what seemed like a veiled comment on him being weak or something, which wasn’t unheard of when it came to his father. But before he could snap back he thought twice about what his dad had said.

“I used the computer?”

His dad frowned at him slightly in confusion. “You sure did. I was actually pretty proud of you for being so mature… you said The Habitat helped you realize how stressed out you were all the time, and now that you can relax… you were pretty insistent on letting Martin know you're ready to talk."

“Ah, shit.” Parsley grabbed his cup of coffee and left the kitchen before his dad could say anything else. Because it was the 90s, the Botchs had a Computer Room, and Parsley made his way there as fast as he could to check his email. One Windows 3.1 boot up noise later and it was clear: As his dad told him, an email had been sent by him to Martin at around midnight last night asking if he was available to meet for coffee the next morning. _This_ morning. And worse, waiting in his inbox was a _reply._

**Dear Parsley,**

**It’s nice to hear from you again. I hope you are doing well. 11am is fine, I will meet you at the coffee shop then :).**

**Sincerely,**

**Martin**

Just reading the email filled Parsley with a mixture of panic and shame. And frankly a little bit of confusion. Martin was of course just being gracious and meeting with him because his original email (which he read underneath Martin’s reply) was barely more than a cry for help, riddled with drunken typos and even including the sign off “ **Love, Parsley”** ** _. _ ** His breakup with Martin had been awful for both parties, and while they were still  _ technically  _ on speaking terms, that really only meant they had attempted to talk to one another about four times in the year since they split. Each time was more awkward than the last. In fact the last time had been  _ so  _ awkward and painful, it was part of what made Parsley feel like running away from this whole city. Which led to his arrival at The Habitat. You know the rest.

Oh, and the panic? That was because currently the clock read 10:15am.

Before he even really realized what he was doing, Parsley jumped out of the old office chair and rushed to his room. Meeting Martin after so many bad reconnections was clearly a stupid idea, and he was only moving out of instinct. Parsley was not one to show up late to a meeting. It was one of his many Business Talents. So it wasn’t until he was entirely done scarfing down his plate of “eggs”, chugging his coffee, and halfway through combing out his wildly tangled hair that he started to debate with himself whether he should actually go.

On the one hand, these meetings never really went  _ well.  _ But on the other hand… he missed Martin. Badly. And his time at The Habitat had finally,  _ finally  _ allowed him some time to relax… Maybe that was what he needed to get in the headspace of actually being able to talk to his ex husband about anything slightly more serious than how weird the weather was lately and then leaving after 45 minutes of one sentence comments.

Well, whatever the case, his not so repressed longing to reconnect with Martin outweighed his pounding headache and usual stresses about a meeting like this. So he grabbed the nicest coat he could find on his way out the door, only pausing to yell a quick thanks to his father for the dubious, yet filling, “breakfast” he had given him. 


End file.
